As the U.S. marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a critical pillar of the nation’s digital defense has expired. On September 30th, Congress failed to pass a continuing resolution, furloughing many federal cybersecurity staff and allowing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015 to lapse as cyber threats are reaching unprecedented levels. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which spearheaded much of the law’s implementation, has also furloughed nearly two-thirds of its workforce.

The Space Systems Command (SSC) Front Door is now the go-to portal for businesses looking to work with the US Space Force. As the Space Force budget is requested as high as $39 billion, including all FY26 requests and reconciliation funding, IT companies have a bigger role to play than ever.

The United States is facing a significant cybersecurity workforce shortage, with NIST identifying over 500,000 open cyber positions and estimating there are 74 workers for every 100 cyber jobs. This shortage threatens both the nation’s private sector security profile and federal agencies struggling to compete for cybersecurity professionals. As such, the government is working to support cyber education in the United States. In the meantime, departments will also likely need to implement cyber solutions that can aid in accommodating for the workforce shortfall.

In 2018, the federal government started implementation of Trusted Workforce 2.0, a whole-of-government approach to establish a single employee vetting system for the US government which promises increased security and reduced background check times.

At this point, anyone keenly watching the budget process every year can tell you the likelihood of a continuing resolution (CR) being passed as opposed to a new budget by Oct 1st is all but guaranteed. CRs act as a temporary stopgap designed to avoid a government shutdown. However, it also locks funding to the previous fiscal year’s level and prevents new projects from getting started. Projects then remain under operations and maintenance until a new budget, with new requirements, is passed.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), enacted on July 4, 2025, is a significant piece of legislation outlining President Trump's executive agenda and guiding future U.S. tax and spending policies.

On July 23, 2025, the Trump administration released an AI Action Plan, highlighting 90 federal policy directives across three key pillars: Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure and Leading in International Diplomacy and Security. The Plan also supports the tenants of the President’s earlier January 23, 2025, Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.”

In August, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) held the annual Department of the Air Force IT Conference (DAFITC) in Montgomery, Alabama. They brought together leading voices from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, industry and academia centered on the theme “Lethality, Readiness and Efficiency.” The event spotlighted how modern IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, data and workforce development are all coming together to shape a more agile, secure and mission-ready force.

The Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently introduced the Digital OnRamp Platform, designed to connect private sector organizations with DoD opportunities. It’s scheduled for release in the fall of 2025, and leverages advanced AI and large language model (LLM) technologies to simplify and enhance the process of matching private sector capabilities with defense needs

The DoD is rolling out aggressive updates to its supply chain cybersecurity framework. If you sell software, services or infrastructure into the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), expect tighter requirements, faster timelines and zero tolerance for compliance gaps. These changes affect your ability to win and keep DoD contracts—especially with new programs like: